With furloughs beginning this week, many employees and some contractors working at Naval Air Weapons Station, China Lake may be tightening their belts over 11 weeks with a 20 percent cut in pay.

With the impact to the local business community still unknown, some organizations and businesses are taking steps to lessen the pain.

The Ridgecrest Chamber of Commerce is one such organization, partnering with local businesses in order to get the word out about local offers for those affected by the furloughs.

“We are trying to organize a list of specials offered by local businesses during the furloughs,” said Chamber office manager Heather Spurlock on Thursday.

Spurlock is coordinating the effort on the Chamber's end, and the specials would be disseminated through the organization’s normal email list.

“We will send it out in a normal email list on Thursdays,” Spurlock said. Spurlock added that Chamber email subscribers included its members, non-members and those in the general community.

“It is really the businesses who started the discounts,” Spurlock said. “We are trying to get the information out, and we are open to any businesses offering deals during the furloughs, whether or not they are Chamber members.”

Chamber CEO Nathan Ahle said there would likely be an impact on the local economy because of the furloughs.

“Any time you affect someone's pocketbook, it will trickle down into affecting local businesses,” Ahle said Thursday. “We hope the community rallies together to help one another and get through the furloughs.”

Ahle added that a lot of Ridgecrest businesses “are stepping up to the plate with discounts.”

Furloughs were announced by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel in May due to the federal sequester's impact on the Department of Defense's budget. More than 650,000 civilian employees are affected, including the 4,166 working at NAWS China Lake.

Businesses aren't the only ones stepping up to the plate during the furlough period. Local financial institutions are also helping eas the pain, according to Eric Bruen, president of Desert Valleys Federal Credit Union.

“Desert Valleys has a put a special program in place to help those base employees and contractors,” Bruen said. The deal, a interest-only loan, would allow people affected by the furloughs to pay back only the interest for 3 months.

Bruen criticized the furloughs and the federal decision to sequester the national budget.

“It's like a dam,” Bruen said. “Congressman sequestration a political tool instead of addressing the real budget problems.”

Bruen complimented Congressman Kevin McCarthy's recent letter – written in conjunction with other Congressional members – to Hagel, the defense secretary, opposing the furloughs of approximately 177,000 employees funded through the Defense Working Capital Funds, and asking for answers.

Page 2 of 2 - Bruen added that NAWS China Lake should be exempt from the furlough process.

“The bottom line is the base is a zero-budget installation,” Bruen said.

At the local level, Bruen said, furloughs would affect the economy.

“Everybody is going to tighten their belts,” Bruen said. “It will be felt in the retail and service areas, because rent and utilities and other medical bills are always going to come first.”

He added that sequestration would do more to harm the national recovery that had been eking along, rather than help it.

“When you take away 20 percent of people's income, whether for one week or 11 weeks, it will change how they spend their money,” Bruen said.

However, that should not preclude people from asking for help during the sequestration.

“The worst thing people can do is bury their head in the sand and think that will help the problem go away,” Bruen said.

Instead, it's best to talk with landlords and utility companies during the furlough process.

“Engaging those people or businesses is a good way to see how you might be able to get help,” Bruen said. “But if you don't ask, they won't offer it. There is no harm in asking.”